Rowett ‘deserves Birmingham commitment’

Gary Rowett took charge at Birmingham City in October 2014 following the departure of Lee Clark

Birmingham City must do everything they can to keep manager Gary Rowett, says director Panos Pavlakis.

Rowett, 42, has been linked with both Fulham and Derby County this season and Pavlakis believes Blues must show the right level of commitment to their boss if he is to stay at St Andrew’s.

“For me, he is one of the best, young English managers in the UK,” Pavlakis told BBC WM 95.6.

“I’m not waiting for other teams to come in – we must be proactive.”

Former Burton Albion boss Rowett led Blues to 10th in the Championship in his first full season in charge, the same place they finished in 2014-15, when the former City defender returned to St Andrew’s to inherit a side lying in the table.

“We must try and show our commitment to Gary and the backroom staff,” said Pavlakis. “He did very well for us last year and, even when there was all this noise about him and other teams, the main thing on my agenda was how we could solidify our relationship with Gary and his guys and keep them happy.

“In the last transfer window in January, we dedicated a significant amount of money for loans and there has been progress.”

Pavlakis also confirmed that money is being set aside for improving the club’s scouting network and youth development following the scrapping of the emergency loan system.

‘Big progress’ on potential Blues sale

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Panos Pavlakis has been running the day-to-day operations at Birmingham City on behalf of receivers since the club’s parent company went into voluntary receivership in February 2015

Negotiations over the sale of the club between parent company Birmingham International Holdings Limited (BIHL) and Trillion Trophy Asia – who are already putting money into it – have been ongoing for nearly 12 months after a two-year exclusivity period with their preferred bidder was agreed in June 2015.

Following the ending of legal action against BIHL by the club’s former owner Carson Yeung and ex-director Peter Pannu, Pavlakis said he hoped the takeover negotiations will gather pace.

An upcoming emergency general meeting will see a “restructuring” process and potential resumption of trading of club shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

“I don’t know the exact logistics because this EGM is going to be quite complicated,” added Pavlakis. “There will be some restructuring, a number of corporate actions will happen and they have to be voted on. I cannot tell exactly when, but there has been big progress.”